Lafourche considers expanding effort to grow jobs

Sunday

Feb 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM

A councilman has suggested creating something akin to the economic-development agency in neighboring Terrebonne.

Cara BaylesStaff Writer

Lafourche officials are considering whether parish government should expand its efforts to attract new jobs and grow existing businesses.Parish Council member Phillip Gouaux has floated the idea of creating an agency similar to the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority that would operate under the auspices of parish government.Lafourche already has a director of grants and economic development position, vacant since the former director, Gretchen Caillouet, resigned in December to start her own business. As the Parish Council discussed plans to fill the job last week, Gouaux suggested creating a larger department for the task.“Economic development is the driving force of any parish. Without it, the parish doesn’t have a source of income,” Gouaux said in an interview. “We have so much to offer. We need to try to get businesses to come here, and once they do, we need to cradle them and give them what they need to survive. Terrebonne is booming. And while we’re growing, it’s not as fast as Terrebonne.”As of March, when it fills a job vacancy, the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority will have four full-time staffers, two part-time employees and an intern. The agency’s staff used to be larger, with six full-time employees, but the group recently underwent a reorganization under its new CEO, Steve Vassallo. Three staff members were laid off. Among them is Michelle Edwards Eroche, who is now being considered for the director of grants and economic development position in Lafourche.Vassallo said that while he trimmed the staff to cut costs, he couldn’t do his job without the support of several employees.“You’re so limited in what you can do,” he said. “I was gone in Washington, D.C., last week, and without [staffers] Donna Washington and Sheila Bella, everything would have come to a standstill.”Gouaux said Lafourche also presents geographical challenges, since the parish stretches about 60 miles long.As owner of Louisiana Construction Management and Services and of Sigma Oil and Gas Marketing, Gouaux said he knows how much local companies could benefit from learning about the public programs available to them.Local chambers of commerce are good at providing a network for existing businesses, he said, and while the South Louisiana Economic Council, based at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, offers training for new and emerging companies, the group is regional and can’t always do outreach to Lafourche Parish.The larger economic development department would require more money for salaries, but Gouaux said Parish President Charlotte Randolph is considering a plan to have the future economic development director apply for grants to bankroll a staff.“Every minute we don’t have this,” Gouaux said, “jobs and businesses are in jeopardy.”

Staff Writer Cara Bayles can be reached at 857-2204 or at cara.bayles@houmatoday.com

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